Piccadilly Gardens: The “Berlin Wall” of Manchester

Piccadilly Gardens has been hailed as Manchester’s most unpopular attraction by Tripadvisor.

The popular website, which rates travel destinations, describes the city centre as being “dirty”, “ depressing” and being a “ big slab of concrete.” It has been nicknamed “Berlin Wall” by many of the commentors.

The Gardens are ranked 96 out of 114 attractions in Manchester.

The city centre was revamped in 2002 with designs by famous Japanese architect Tadao Ando, who won a competition held to decide whose ideas would feature in the city centre.

A new water feature and concrete pavilion were built in addition to a redesigned garden.

However, the refurbishment did not make it more attractive according to many locals.

A senior contributor on Tripadvisor said that describing Piccadilly Gardens as an “attraction” would be “pushing the description.”

The contributor added, “If in Manchester, just steer clear of this bleak expanse, there is nothing here to interest anyone and your personal safety cannot be guaranteed.

“This square is quite literally, concrete proof that things don’t always change for the better as it used to be a little oasis in the centre of the city.”

Out of 162 reviews, 59 reviews rated Piccadilly as “terrible”,  15 reviews rated it as “ excellent”.

Other unpopular attractions include Victoria train station and the AMC cinema.

John Rylands Library in Deansgate and the Museum of Science and Industry rank among the more popular attractions.